Respite
by TanteKJ
Summary: Georg cherishes his wife.


Disclaimer: I own not The Sound of Music or any of the characters. I just love the movie and Julie Andrews is just indescribable in how magnificent she is.

AN: I'm fiddling with the timeline here. In real life the Von Trapps were married for quite some time before they had to leave Austria. Its in that vain that I decided to write a scene from that life.  
A few lines have been taken from the movie and there is a Mary Poppins reference, a movie I also have no legal claim to.

"Phew."  
Georg looked upon an exhausted Maria with a warm sparkle in his eyes.  
"Well done, Fräulein." He said, offering her a hand up from her spot on the floor. "I really am very, very much impressed."  
Taking his hand, she smiled at him.  
"They're your children, Captain." She said with a shrug.  
He returned her smile and pulled her body against his.  
"Don't you mean *our* children, Baroness?"  
Maria rested her head against her husband's warm chest.  
"Not when they wear me down this far, Darling." She told him lovingly. "When I'm this tired they're *your* children so you have to be responsible for them."  
Georg smiled against her hair and rubbed her back.  
"How did you manage to compel them to finally clean this mess up?" He asked, referring to the now spotless nursery.

"I simply implored them that, if they tried to find an element of fun in the job they had to, that the job would then seem to become a game. They didn't believe it at first but, obviously, eventually came around."

"Come, my brilliant love." Georg said. "Let's get you into a nice, hot bath, hmm?"  
Maria wrapped an arm around his waist as he led her from the nursery.  
"They may have to be your children more often, Captain." She joked as he led her towards the Master suite.

Georg found his bride curled up on their large bed when he reemerged from the bathroom. The small ball of worry in his stomach grew bigger as he made his way over to her. Sinking down quietly onto the mattress, he ran a warm hand over her forehead and through her silky strands.

Maria moaned in delight at her husband's loving touch.

"Is my bath ready?" She asked sleepily.

"Yes, it is, my love."

Maria opened her eyes and sat up slowly.

"Are you all right, my dear?" Georg asked as he offered her a hand to help her stand, her uncharacteristic fatigue worrying him.

Finding his eyes, Maria nodded.

Georg held her gaze for a beat before repeating her actions and walking with her to the threshold of the bathroom.

"I'll wait for you." He said.

"Darling, you really don't have to."

"I'll wait for you." He repeated.

She smiled at him and then disappeared behind the door.

Georg grabbed a well-read book from his night stand before relaxing his body in a chair he'd placed by the bathroom door.

He stopped every few paragraphs to lend an ear to the gentle sounds of water lapping the sides of the tub, his shoulders relaxing when the sweet sounds of Maria's humming wafted through the air after several minutes.

He had just started the next chapter in his book when the unmistakable call of "Mother!" came shouting down the hallway.

He snapped the book shut and rose to his feet, quick footsteps taking him out into the hallway.

"Brigitta!"

His voice was more harsh than he had intended but Maria's fatigue and the fact that, although he'd come alive again with Maria's entrance into their lives, shouting was still not something he readily permitted.

"Oh, Father!" Brigitta exclaimed, coming to a full stop. "I need to speak with Mother, right now!"

"No, you do not!"

Georg looked up in surprise at the firm tone of his oldest, the realization hitting him then that he'd completely missed Liesl coming up fast behind her sister.

"Yes, I do!" Brigitta said, spinning on her sister.

"No, you - "

"Girls!"

Georg's commanding voice silenced them both as he shuffled them down the hall and away from the master bedroom.

"Your Mother has had a very busy morning helping you all complete a task I'm sure I instructed you to take care of yourselves 3 days ago. She needs to rest for awhile. I don't know what the matter is but, unless someone is bleeding, broken, or missing, sort it out on your own!"

Two pairs of contrite eyes met his, his daughters mumbling, "Yes, Father" before slowly turning on their heels and heading back down the hallway.

Georg sighed softly as he watched them go, waiting until they had reached the top of the stairs before heading to his room again.

He mentally chided himself for abandoning his post when his eyes fell on a robe-clad Maria gathering a new outfit from the closet.

"Did the bath help?" He asked softly.

Maria turned at the sound of her husband's voice and smiled.

"Yes, it did." She answered.

Georg's eyes drank in her appearance. Her skin held a rosy glow to it, courtesy of the steam from her bath, her soft hair curled ever so around her ears. The mischievous sparkle was back in her eyes and, even through the thicker fabric of her robe, Georg could tell her shoulders had relaxed. He smiled as he heard her begin to hum again.  
"Maria?" He asked, a sudden idea coming to him. "Do you still have the blue dress?"  
"*The* blue dress?" She asked, glancing at her husband over her shoulder.  
"Yes, my love." Georg answered, taking a few steps towards her. "*The* blue dress."  
"I do." Maria told him.  
"Put it on?"  
Turning towards Georg fully, Maria tipped her head to the side, her eyes asking the question.  
"I have an idea. Get dressed and meet me in the driveway in 10 minutes?"  
"The driveway? Georg, what is going on in that brain of yours?"  
"You'll see." He answered airily.  
Maria narrowed her eyes at her husband's retreating form before beginning to do as he had requested.

Ten minutes later, Maria emerged from the house, clad in the blue dress that symbolized so much to the both of them, and accepted her husband's outstretched hand so that he could lead her towards the open car door.  
"We're going for a drive?" She asked.  
"You'll see." He said, closing her door gently.  
Maria glanced over her shoulder to watch her husband walk around the back of the car, noticing the picnic basket in the back seat as she did so.  
"A picnic?" She asked as he slid into the driver's seat.  
"Hmm." He answered noncommittally.  
"Where are the children?" Maria asked as the pair pulled out of the driveway.  
"Marching about the grounds, breathing deeply." Georg replied.  
Maria shot him a look at that, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest.  
"You're not going to tell me where we are going, are you?"  
"Hmm?" Georg asked, pretending to be concentrating on the drive.  
"Well," She began, deciding two could play at this game, "We're not going into town."  
"What makes you say that, my love?"  
"Our attire, of course."  
A small beam of triumphant shot through Maria when she caught Georg's eyes quickly flash towards hers before focusing on the road again.  
"Oh, I know how much you *hate* "soaking yourself in champagne" but you do still dress for the occasion, my love."  
She had him at that. He had repeated to her what he had playfully told Elsa about visiting Vienna and the minx, God bless her, had just turned the tables on him.  
"So, we're not going into town." Maria continued. "The children are not with us, you packed a picnic, and we are in the car...OH!"  
Her sudden exclamation startled him, causing him to jerk the wheel ever so slightly. He corrected quickly just as his wife burst out with, "We are going to my mountain!"  
He smiled at her use of the word "my" rather than "the" when referring to the Untersberg.  
Maria clasped Georg's free hand in hers and held it tightly the rest of the drive.

Georg could swear he hadn't even come to a complete stop before Maria was out of the car and bounding towards her green fields and blue sky.  
"You didn't come here alone, you know." He playfully called after her.  
Maria stopped in her tracks at that, a guilty expression darkening her features as she turned towards her husband.  
"I apologize, my Darling."  
He inwardly winced at the slightly contrite tone to her voice. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad. Quickly closing the distance between them, Georg set the picnic basket on the ground before gathering his wife in a warm embrace. He pressed his lips into her hair before speaking to her in soft tones.  
"I was only teasing you, my love." He told her. "I knew you would be excited to come here. It has been awhile since you've been able to escape to your place of respite and even longer since you could do so without the children."  
"But they love it - " She began.  
"I know how they do. And it is a special gift that you shared with them but it was yours first and there is something sacred about that that should be preserved and respected."  
Her heart swelling with love and gratitude, Maria again took her husband's hand in hers and together they headed for the mountain top.

He surprised her again with what he had packed for their lunch. She closed her eyes as she bit down on a sweet strawberry, wondering what he found so funny as she did so.  
She gratefully accepted the cold lemonade and savored the crisp apple strudel, both of them in on the joke when he pulled the dessert from the basket.  
Maria leaned back on her hands,head towards the sun, after they had finished lunch.  
"Thank you so much for this." She whispered.  
"The pleasure was all mine, my Darling."  
Maria dropped her head from the sun and turned it towards Georg.  
"I love you." She softly.  
"And I, you." He returned, leaning over to kiss her softly. "Thank you for being my wife and mother to our children."  
She offered a fleeting smile at his reference to their earlier conversation in the nursery.  
"It is much different to be their mother than their governess." She admitted quietly.  
Though her words were soft, they hit Georg like a freight train. How had he not considered that?  
"Oh, Maria. I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about - "  
Maria held up a hand to stop him.  
"There's nothing to apologize for, Darling. We all just...just..."  
"Hit the ground running trying to make up for lost time."  
Maria offered her husband a sad smile.  
"Yes." She agreed. "Something like that."  
"They are a handful." Georg began, his warm teasing tone back in his voice. "Discipline *used* to be the first order of the house but THEN - "  
"A *problem* appeared and turned everything on its head."  
"And I have yet to be able to solve said problem." Georg said. "And I don't have the first thought of how I would even begin to try."  
Husband and wife shared a warm laugh at their light-hearted banter before lapsing into an easy silence for several moments.

Wordlessly they turned towards each other, their lips meeting in a kiss that reaffirmed everything they had said to one another and promised so much more to what was to come.  
They packed up their lunch together, the breeze playing in their hair as they descended the mountain, and headed for home and their children.


End file.
